She looked up at Dr. Reid. “How long until my ribs are healed?”
“Usually about six weeks.” He wrote something down on one of his charts. “But yours could take longer given the severity of the damage.”
She couldn’t stay here six more weeks. Her father would surely find a way out of jail by then, and her uncle had already said Leeland was coming back to Sitka.
She clasped her hands together, trying to ignore the gnawing sensation that had lodged itself beneath the pain in her ribs. “I can’t stay here that long. What’s the earliest I can travel?”
“I suggest staying here until you are fully recovered.” The doctor sent her a stern look.
“I can’t. It’s not safe.” She’d been supposed to leave Sitka yesterday with Yuri, and though they’d clearly missed that ship, she had to get away from Sitka before Leeland came for her or her father got out of jail.
Was Yuri even planning to take her away from Sitka anymore? Would it be possible for them to sneak away now that the entire town knew she was staying with the Amoses?
Or perhaps it was still possible for her to sneak away, but it would be impossible for the Amoses to appear as though they had nothing to do with her leaving.
A brisk knock sounded on the door; then it cracked open.
“Can we come in?” Alexei poked his head inside and looked at Dr. Reid.
“Yes, as long as Miss Caldwell is feeling up to visitors?” The doctor looked at her.
She nodded, and Alexei stepped into the room with Yuri following behind him.
Something in her chest loosened. Yuri hadn’t left her side that first day after she’d been injured, though she’d barely been awake long enough to recall anything other than her uncle’s visit. But every time she’d awakened, she’d found her hand in his and heard his gentle voice trying to soothe her through the pain.
But yesterday, Bryony had taken over most of her nursing. The doctors made regular visits, of course, but she’d seen Yuri only a couple of times.
“Rosalind?” Yuri must have sensed her worry, because he crossed the room in three strides and gripped her hand. “What’swrong? Is it the bindings? Are they too tight?” He sent a glare his sister’s direction. “I told you to be gentle with her.”
“She has five broken ribs.” Kate threw up her hands. “Even if I wrapped her in clouds, she’d be in pain for weeks.”
“It’s not the bindings.” Rosalind tightened her hand around Yuri’s.
“Then what, Ros? What can I do to help?” He bent down until his face was even with hers, then he smoothed her hair away from her forehead. “Tell me, and I’ll make it better.”
Her eyes filled with tears. Oh, why did Yuri have to be so kind? It was almost too much.
“Rosalind?” he asked again. Then he straightened and sent another angry look across the room, this time glaring at both his sister and brother-in-law. “What did you do to her? Bryony said she was fine after lunch.”
Dr. Reid shook his head. “We didn’t do anything. I was answering questions about her recovery timeline when you came in.”
“If you told her she won’t recover, I swear I’ll?—”
“I can’t stay here,” she blurted before Yuri charged across the room and throttled his brother-in-law. “Everyone in your family has been so kind and wonderful, but I need to go, before my uncle and father get released from jail. Before Leeland comes to Sitka.”
“Absolutely not.” Dr. Reid made a slashing motion with his hands. “Your ribs cannot handle anything other than you lying in bed, not to mention the incision from your cannula insertion still isn’t healed, and we need to monitor you for signs of infection and pneumonia.”
Yuri and Alexei exchanged a glance, then Yuri blew out a breath. “That’s actually what we were coming to talk to you about.”
“You were?” She swiped a tear away from her cheek. “Does that mean you have a way for me to leave?”
“Not quite,” Alexei said, his voice low and serious. “It means we learned this morning that your uncle was released from jail.”
“But how? Is the judge back? Is he going to release my father too?”
“The judge isn’t back yet,” Alexei answered. “The head jailer decided to release him last night anyway.”
Her hand fisted in the fabric of her quilt. “Why?”
